International Star You Should Know: English Actress Amy Hoggart

English actress Amy Hoggart, 29, displays serious improv chops as co-star of BBC America’s first comedy series, “Almost Royal,” which follows Poppy, 67th in line to the British throne, and her brother, Georgie (Ed Gamble), as they tour America, “Borat”-like.

CHANGING COURSE: Hoggart was born in Washington, D.C., where her father was a correspondent for the Observer in the 1980s. The family moved back to the U.K. when she was 4. While earning a B.A. in English literature at Cambridge, Hoggart performed with the theater club Footlights, whose alumni include some of the best-known comic performers and writers to come out of the U.K. She went on to earn a masters degree from the University of Sussex in experimental psychology. But, she said, she always loved to write and act, and anyway, “becoming a clinical psychologist in the U.K. is probably more competitive. Everyone said to me, ‘You’re really taking the easy road out.’”

SCENE QUEEN: After honing her skills in the London stand-up scene (“The comedy circuit in London is brilliant, a great community,” she says), Hoggart was cast in “Almost Royal.” “They asked if I could do an aristocratic accent,” she recalls.

WITTY WOMEN: “It feels like a really exciting time for women in comedy,” she says, noting that talents such as Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer and Tamsin Greig are having a big impact. “These really cool women who are doing it all.”

BOOKED: Next up is a U.S. scripted comedy-drama, another in the U.K. and possibly a film (she’s mum on the details). Meanwhile, she’s working in a new medium. “I’m writing a novel — I’ve always wanted to be a novelist!”

I don’t know how Variety picks its “International Star You Should Know” – none of the actors mentioned in the article over the years has ever made any impact in the U.S. or the actor’s native country. I remembered one year Variety wrote about Godfrey Gao as “International Star You Should Know”, that dude is a third tier actor or even lower in Taiwan, not even China, all he did was some cosmetic modeling and print ads, then after getting a small role in “Mortal Instruments”, Godfrey was supposed to be this “International Star You Should Know”, are you kidding me?? I’ll tell you what that guy is doing now, he’s selling pancakes from his family business just to make a living in Taiwan. Instead of writing articles on real “International Star You Should Know” like Andy Lau or Eddie Peng, Variety writers has no clue about who’s the real international star. Godfrey Gao or this Amy Hoggart a real star? Hardly – otherwise Hollywood would have been knocking on their doors. I love reading Variety, but this “International Star You Should Know” is just totally stupid article.